Ford’s campaign across NASCAR in 2026 has hit a rough patch, with results, performance, depth, and presence across series raising questions amongst NASCAR’s fanbase. Hall of Famer and Ford veteran Mark Martin believes the manufacturer may need to go back to the drawing board, allocating its investments and efforts to lower divisions and rebuilding its driver pipeline.
Through seven races in the NASCAR Cup Series season, Ford has one points win, delivered by Ryan Blaney at Phoenix Raceway, where he led 28 laps and claimed Stage 1. Ryan Preece also won at Bowman Gray Stadium, though that event did not count toward the standings.
Meanwhile, their showing grows even thinner in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. After AM Racing and Nick Sanchez withdrew from the race at Rockingham Speedway, Ford no longer has a driver who can run all 33 races in 2026, effectively taking it out of contention for a driver’s title in that series.
In fact, Ford’s footprint in the series rests solely on AM Racing and Hettinger Racing. Hettinger Racing is fielding cars for the full season with a driver rotation, but there are rumors that they, too, could scale back to running just most of the season as opposed to all races.
The drop off is a big shift from 2025, when Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed carried Ford into the playoffs with the Haas Factory Team. During the offseason, the Haas Factory Team and its allied team RSS Racing switched to Chevrolet, leaving Ford with an extremely diminished presence in the series.
Speaking on the latest episode of Door Bumper Clear, former Roush Racing driver Mark Martin pointed to long-standing patterns in Ford’s approach as a part of the problem.
“My experience with Ford is they’ve always been super tight with the purse,” Martin said. “They have not invested in up-and-coming drivers, for example. Ford just doesn’t invest, and right now it looks like they’re even less.”
The Hall of Famer added that Ford may be redirecting resources elsewhere, including Formula 1, scaling back investment in top-tier stock car racing, including reducing support for developing young drivers, saying, “They’re probably shifting their money toward F1.”
“I don’t know. I’m an outsider looking in, but I can guarantee I was a Ford contract driver for 23 years, and I felt like that the reason we were less favored, we being Fords, than other manufacturers, is because they [Ford] spent less money outside of what they did for their teams.” — Mark Martin
Fans have also taken note of the same. One remarked, “Just realized Dodge has more of development program than Ford.”
Another, in direct response to Martin’s view, backs the idea of more investment while pointing out Ford’s recent pattern of signing talent developed elsewhere once seats open at the top level.
“They absolutely should, but I am also incredibly biased as a Blue Oval diehard, I simply like seeing Fords on track in any series lol. I will say that their strategy of poaching other manufacturers’ young talent when they get to the top and run out of seats is pretty smart,” the post read.
Ford’s apparent gap in development has been tied to a number of things over the years.
With track time reduced, Ford teams have struggled to find balance across different tracks. Team Penske has found gains on flat tracks tied to a tire test at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where Joey Logano said the group found some things.
Changes to the Mustang body have also been cited, with drivers noting a narrow setup window on downforce tracks. When the setup lands, the car delivers speed at any type of track, but getting there has proved a challenge, with fans used to Ford having slow starts to the season.
Depth in the driver pool has added to the strain.
Ford fields two drivers seen as capable of winning multiple races in a season in Logano and Blaney. Brad Keselowski has not reached that mark since leaving Team Penske, while Chris Buescher has done so once, back in 2023, when he won three races toward the end of the regular season.
No other current Ford driver has multiple wins in a season.
By comparison, Chevrolet’s lineup includes Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, and Shane van Gisbergen. Toyota counters with Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, and Tyler Reddick, with Chase Briscoe pushing into that group after multiple wins last year, alongside Bubba Wallace and Ty Gibbs.
Each of their competitors also has depth, with names like Jesse Love and Brent Crews, waiting in the lower wings after years of development.
Nonetheless, Ford continues to meet the mark of Chevrolet and Toyota, winning three Cup Series titles, a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series title, and three Truck Series titles since 2022.
What’s your take on Ford’s recent status in NASCAR? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
